Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh was back from the G-20 summit held at London recently with a smile. The outcome has been satisfactory, he said. President Obama, in his meeting with the PM, had credited Dr Singh with India’s growing financial stature in the world economy. Obama described the PM as a "wise and marvellous" man at an individual conference. President Obama even hailed India's "high stature" because it had "unleashed economic forces" and said a lot of it had to do with "the wisdom of Dr Singh".Dr Singh’s efforts along with the other leaders at improving the economic climate seem to be paying off. According to Dr Singh, India too had provided a fiscal stimulus of about four percent of its GDP ie., approx. Rs 1,20,000 crore in 2008-09. This will help the country's growth rate to reach a little less than seven per cent, comparatively higher than most other economies. "We hope to be able to achieve a similar growth rate in 2009-10, with continuing reliance on monetary and fiscal policy. Active contra-cyclical policy must be a priority item on our agenda and global markets are looking to see if we are united on this issue," he said.The agenda at the summit concluded with pumping of US$ 1.1 trillion into International Monetary Fund for providing stimulus for the revival of world business, removal of protectionist measures raids on tax havens and strengthening the global financial system through supervision.Dr Singh reaffirmed India’s commitment to the said agenda and promised that more free trade agreements would be arrived at with countries. This would facilitate setting up of businesses in India and thereby improve the foreign direct investment flows. Recent industry research by IDC too reveals the growing optimism of Indian Chief Information Officers (CIOs) on bucking the economic slowdown and rejuvenating the economy earlier than anticipated.